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The hidden cash that’s giving loan-averse students a leg up

Don&rsquo;t want to take out a loan? The grants, bursaries and scholarships are out there &ndash; you just need to know where to find them

Sozanny Chea wants to get a business degree at university. She'll pursue grant money to help minimize her debt load. (Glenn Lowson Photo for the toronto Star)

By KATHARINE ROBERTSONSPECIAL TO THE STAR

Tues., Feb. 28, 2012

Ayan Samatar always knew she wanted to pursue a post-secondary education after high school, but she had two problems. First, the Lawrence Heights native needed to pick a discipline to study. Then, she'd have to figure out how she was going to pay back her Ontario Student Assistance Program loan after she graduated.

It's a common worry. Student debt has doubled in the last 10 years, according to the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, with the average undergraduate in Ontario facing more than $22,000 in debt upon graduation. The pressure to start paying OSAP back within six months of graduation holds some back from completing their degree. Statistics Canada's Youth in Transition survey says 36 per cent of students who drop out cite financial challenges.

But there is hope, in the form of bursaries, scholarships and grants. Samatar looked to her mentors at Pathways to Education, an organization that supports high school students in low-income communities to graduate and go to college or university. Each week, she and her fellow Pathways students would receive an email about an upcoming award opportunity.

“All of us would get the same email and I would be the only one that applied,” Samatar remembers. “My friends would say, ‘Out of all the kids in Toronto, how am I going to get the scholarship?’ I was more like, ‘Just try it.’”

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By the time she'd settled on a business technology major at Ryerson University, she'd accumulated approximately $13,000 in bursaries and scholarships. On top of winning Pathways' D'alessandro award for $3,500, Samatar won several bursaries from Toronto Community Housing and an entrance scholarship from Ryerson. Finishing her degree doesn't seem so out-of-reach anymore.

Visiting a post-secondary institution's financial aid office is a good place to get information about bursaries and scholarships. But two services - ScholarshipsCanada.com and StudentAwards.com - offer high school students a head start, and connect members to non-academic and privately sponsored opportunities. A student's financial need, hobbies, volunteer commitments, heritage and even physical characteristics can unlock a varied selection of awards that many don't even know exist.

“It's a myth that you have to be a 'brainiac,'” says Suzanne Tyson, the president of StudentAwards Inc. “There's even a scholarship out there for making your prom dress or tuxedo out of duct tape,” she says, referring to Duck Brand duct tape's annual contest for high school students. Winners are awarded up to $5,000 for outfits made from the company's product.

Not that it's easy to make an award-winning gown out of super-sticky tape. Scholarship applications can be daunting, but the process becomes easier after the first one: essays can be fine-tuned and references can be recycled in subsequent applications.

“Once you apply for one, you've applied for them all,” advises Saron Ghebressallassie, a 25-year-old law student at the University of Ottawa. She would know – she's won more than 30 awards since she began her post-secondary education eight years ago. In all that time, she's never stood in an OSAP line.

And the benefits of awards stretch beyond a single income injection. For Sozanny Chea, a second-year executive administration student at Hamilton's Mohawk College, a $450 Scotiabank bursary has gone a long way.

Last October, she spoke to a well-heeled crowd at Mohawk's McKeil Business School about the impact awards make in a student's life.

By the end of the evening, Chea had a job offer from Blair McKeil, chairman of aquatic transportation company McKeil Marine and the namesake of the business school. Following her summer student gig at the company, she's set her sights on a finance degree at Brock University.

Free money can come in other forms, such as learning to save what you already have. Centennial College offers financial literacy workshops about budgeting, debt and financial planning.

Smartsaver.org provides advice in 16 languages to parents who wish to open an RESP with a Canada Learning Bond grant. May Wong, the executive director of Smartsaver's parent organization the Omega Foundation, says there are licensed RESP providers that waive start-up and annual fees and don't require regular contributions.

“Every little bit helps,” says David Cosolo, a first-year international relations student at the University of Toronto. He won a $3,000 Miller Thomson Foundation scholarship and a $1,500 Johnson Insurance award. “Although paying for school is top priority, not having to worry about counting every penny all the time makes a huge difference to your experience.”

Free money for school can be yours, and it's hiding in more places than you might think.

Topping out

Western University offers the most in scholarships and bursaries at $1.4-million. Georgian College tops the community college list at $140,625.

Not just for A-students

TD Canada Trust's Community Leadership Scholarships offer up to $70,000 and require just a 75 per cent average. Canada Student Grants are for those who have dependents, a disability, or require financial assistance.

Look beyond school

Some employers, such as Tim Hortons, offer grants. Union membership could also qualify you for funds. UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) has scholarships for members and their dependents.

The niche interest advantage

Participants in the North Bay-invented sport Ringette are eligible for $1,000 awards. Never heard of Ringette? Exactly.

Spread the risk

It's easier to win five $5,000 scholarships that no one has applied for than it is to win a $25,000 award that everyone has applied for.

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